Dastardly Tactics in a Politically Pristine City and Bathrooms Without Roofs

May 17, 2000

Dear Editor:

Bruria Finkel criticizes the consultant running one side of the living wage campaign for bringing his dastardly tactics to our politically pristine city.

Get real. The only features new to Santa Monica in this campaign are the higher prices being paid for signatures and the people interfering with signature gatherers.

Since the early eighties, SMMR and their opponents have routinely used every other tactic that's coming out of both sides in this campaign: half-truths, misleading statements, attacking the character of one's opponent, accusations of illegal behavior, playing on the electorate's emotions.

I would say--and I hate to admit I speak from experience--that these tactics are the mother's milk of political campaigns here; right now we're just seeing them in a more concentrated, isolated form.

In fact, Ms. Finkel uses several of these tactics in her very letter. The
most egregious half-truth is her failure to mention that Mr. Pollin, the
expert she's so glad the city hired, has already established himself as an advocate of strong living wage ordinances. We'll have the fox helping design the security system for the chicken coop--another recurrent theme in Santa Monica government.

I hope the living wage ordinance that emerges from this political quagmire will be healthy and workable. God knows it will have been well fertilized.

May 17, 2000

Dear Editor:

Your article about the Arts Commission, described the fact that having a quorum was news. I sense that the commission was and probably feels demoralized after loosing the Solar Web, a stellar work of art by a renown artist.

Our community, lost. Our children are the greatest losers, and future
generations to come are the losers. I believe that all the structures at the muscle beach (that are taller then the proposed Solar Web) should show every one what a sham was perpetrated on this council, who put aside the work of many many people for 15 years, without addressing an appropriate solution.

It is a disgrace to hear that cows are being proposed. Who knows, maybe that is what this city deserves on its streets. I hate to think that our forward-looking art-enriching program has come
to that.

Bruria Finkel
Santa Monica

May 16, 2000

Dear Editor,

Has anyone noticed the resemblance between the superstructure to support the bathroom roofs and the much vaunted and bemoaned Solar Web?

One day I found a bathroom door opened.....(Yes they work just fine without a roof, and the air is so fresh!) and according to my calculations a shadow will be cast by a nexus of said structure on an anatomically significant part of the body of any user lucky enough to be enthroned therein at high noon on the day of the Summer Solstice.

Let the celebrations begin! Let those ugly yellow roofs be damned! At least without the roofs those who have taken up residence there will be flushed out on rainy days so that we who have paid for them can actually use them! Bondholders are you listening? And the ship of fools sails on!

Steven Keats
Santa Monica

May 15, 2000

Dear Editor,

I agree with Mr. Spotts, roofs on bathrooms can be artfu,l but hardly constitute art. Look at this state of the arts. Very sad.

May 12, 2000

Letter to the Editor

I would like to clear the air about something that was stated in your article about the neighborhood council on May 11.

Rock Laudati sent Neighbors for a Safer Santa Monica and e-mail on Ocean Park Community Organization's letter head asking for information that no other group has been asked for or complied with. So why were we singled out? Who knows?

I have heard from the OPCO Board and the Neighborhood Council Board that Rick Laudati was not authorized to do this.

If we can stop this pettiness we would all be better off.

Sincerely,
Chuck Allord